The rules of Mahjong vary slightly depending on the region or occasion, but the basic structure of the game stays the same. Players start with a set of 144 tiles, arranged into a square or rectangle. These tiles contain symbols related to Chinese mythology, such as gods, animals, and common objects. The goal of the game is to find and claim the winning tile combination.
To start the game, the players choose a banker, who will be in charge of naming the combinations and distributing the tiles. Once the banker has shuffled the tiles, the players will each be given a set of 13 tiles. These tiles are kept secret until the end of the game.
The players then take turns picking up a tile from the pile face up, and then discarding one of their own tiles. This continues until one of the players has found the winning combination of tiles and the game is over.